FOURTEEN-MAN Witney’s first-half comeback proved in vain as they fell to a 47-26 defeat at leaders Maidenhead on Saturday.

Despite trailing 19-0 in the South West 1 East clash, the visitors fought back to level at the break, only for the hosts to run in four tries in the second period.

Witney lost James Merriman to injury early on and quickly fell behind, when Maidenhead scored a converted try in the corner.

And after 32 minutes it was 19-0 as the home side took advantage of two line-outs on their opponents five-metre line.

Witney hit back with a converted try of their own, but soon suffered a blow, when replacement Lloyd Allen was sent off for an alleged tip tackle.

However, it did not deter the visitors as Maidenhead were penalised for offside and a line-out found George Lewis, who dived over for a converted try to level the match at 19-19.

Any hope of continuing their revival, though, was hampered by a generally disorganised defence after the break.

A Maidenhead break led to a simple converted try, before a high tackle from a Witney player led to a line-out and the home side once again went over to make it 33-19.

The visitors attempted to up their game and Gareth Campbell went over to reduce the deficit to seven points.

However, Maidenhead responded almost immediately and a rolling maul led to a converted try.

With the clock running down there was still time for the hosts to add to their points haul, with a kick and chase leading to another score.